'The Heat': The Reviews Are In!

MTV News rounds up what critics are saying about the action-comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.
By Todd Gilchrist

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709745/the-heat-movie-reviews.jhtml

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Australia-Japan whaling case begins

26 June 2013 Last updated at 05:02 ET

Public hearings are under way in The Hague as Australia and Japan take their fight over whaling to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Australia will argue that Tokyo's scientific research programme - under which it kills whales - is commercial whaling in disguise.

Japan - which aims to catch up to 1,000 whales each year - says it is ready to defend its right to conduct research.

There has been a ban on commercial whaling since 1986.

Australia initiated the legal action at the top UN court in 2010.

'Halted'

The first round of oral arguments began on Wednesday, with Australia taking the floor for three days to set out its case that Japan's position that its whaling activities are for scientific purposes "is not only untenable, it is dangerous" for whale populations.

Japan will make its counter arguments over three days from next Tuesday. A further round of arguments, including an intervention from New Zealand, will then take place with the case wrapping up on 16 July - though a ruling is then not expected for several months.

Continue reading the main story

The Legalities of Whaling

• Objection - A country formally objects to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium, declaring itself exempt. Example: Norway
• Scientific - A nation issues unilateral "scientific permits"; any IWC member can do this. Example: Japan
• Indigenous (aka Aboriginal subsistence) - IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food. Example: Alaskan Inupiat

Japan's whaling fleet leaves for the Southern Ocean in November or December each year, with a quota of of minke whales and fin whales whales to catch for what it says are scientific research purposes. Meat from the whales is sold commercially.

In recent years, catches have fallen substantially, mainly because of disruption techniques employed by anti-whaling activists.

Canberra alleges that the research programme breaches international laws and has no relevance to marine conservation. It says more than 10,000 whales have been killed under the programme.

"Australia's views on whaling are well established. We strongly oppose all commercial whaling, including so-called 'scientific' whale hunting by Japan," said Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who is representing Australia in court.

"We want to see the practice halted once and for all."

Tokyo says there are cultural reasons behind the annual hunt and that its whaling is sustainable. It also argues that its research provides information on whale stocks with a view to re-examining the ban on commercial whaling in the future.

"We have a scientific research programme in accordance with the convention on whaling and we are strictly abiding by the treaty obligations," government spokesman Noriyuki Shikata told the BBC.

New Zealand is supporting Australia at the ICJ and the court's decision is considered legally binding.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23045457#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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2013 Weekly Real Estate Market Report ? Week of: June 3rd to June ...

Coldwell Banker
2013 Weekly Real Estate Market Report
North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Region

Residential Properties ? Single Family Homes and Condominiums

Week of:? June 3rd to June 9th

Active Inventory Summary:

Active Listings: The current inventory of residential properties went up 2% from the previous week to 784 residential properties for sale; 589 single family homes and 195 condominiums for sale.? Coldwell Banker has over 15% of the active listings in the market and continues to be the market leader for listings.

REO-Short Sale Active Listings: Of the active listings, there are only 4 properties listed as short sales, (0.5%) and 7 properties listed as REO sales, (1%).

Months of Inventory: Based on the current active inventory and sales for the previous 30-day period, the market has just over 7-months of inventory available.

Sales Summary: Year-To-Date

Total Sales 2013 Vs. 2012:

Total Sales: For 2013, there have been 539 residential properties sold in the market which slightly higher than the 506 properties sold in 2012 for the same period.? Of the total sales in the market this year, 422 have been single family homes, while 117 or 22% of the sales are condominiums.? In 2012 for the same period, condominiums represented almost 25% of the sales.

REO & Short Sales: Distressed property sales are down significantly for the year with 35 REO sales, (6%), and 69 Short Sales, (13%) which results in 19% of the properties sold being distressed properties.? In 2012 for the same period, there were 97 REO sales and 95 short sales or 38% of the total sales being distressed properties.

Sales by Price Range: In 2013, there have been 316 residential properties sold priced below $500,000, 142 properties sold between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 66 properties sold over $1,000,000.

Median and Average Sales Prices: The median sales price for properties sold year to date is $437,000 while the average sales price is $664,116. For the same period in 2012, the median sales price was $380,000 and the average sales price was $534,681 which is an increase of 15% in median sales price and an increase of 24% in average sales price.

Last Week?s Sales: For the week of June 3rd a total of 16 properties sold which was down significantly from the prior week?s sales of 24 properties.? Of the properties sold last week only 1 property sold at a price above $1,000,000.

Pending Sales: Currently there are 243 pending residential sales in the market which is up 4% from the previous week?s pending sales.? Of the pending properties, 21% are distressed properties with 41 being short sales and 12 being REO?s.

Market Activity Summary:

Residential sales activity for 2013 has been very favorable as we continue to see the market outpace 2012 for residential sales.? Thus far, 539 residential properties have sold year to date which is up 5% from the 506 sales for the same period last year.? We are continuing to see significant buyer interest for the Tahoe-Truckee market with multiple offer situations occurring more frequently than what we experienced last year.? June has gotten off to a slower start this year as compared to last year with 17 sales month to date as compared to 24 a year ago.? However, we are still seeing solid activity by interested Buyers.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage for 2013 is #1 in the entire market in terms of both unit sides sold, (253 sales) and sales volume sold, ($107 million).

The median sales price for residential properties reached 437,000 last week which is up 15% from the median sales price of $380,000 in 2012.? Similarly the average sales price has gone up a whopping 24% to $664,116 as compared to last year?s average sales price of $534,681 due in large part to the higher number of luxury sales in the market since the beginning of the new year.

The segment of the market with the highest level of activity continues to be homes priced under $500,000 as 58% of the sales or 316 properties have sold in this price range which is similar to 2012 where over 64% of sales or 327 properties sold in this price range.

Luxury home sales, homes priced above $1,000,000, have gone up 78% from 2012 with 66 luxury properties selling since the beginning of the year as compared to only 37 luxury properties sold for the same period in 2012.? Luxury properties sold represent over 12% of sales thus far this year.? The median sales price for luxury properties in 2013 is $1,745,000 as compared to a median price of $1,300,000 in 2012 which is up 34%.? The average sales price of luxury homes in 2013 is $2,262,831 as compared to $2,154,316 in 2012 which is a 5% increase.

The mid range market sales, $500,000 to $1,000,000 are trending up from last year with 157 properties sold in this segment or 29% of sales as compared to 142 properties sold or 28% of sale in this range in 2012.

Distressed properties, (REO?s and Short Sales), have really lagged 2012 thus far.? For 2013, short sale properties closed have gone down 27% with 69 closed short sales in 2013 as compared to 95 closed short sales in 2012.? Similarly, REO properties closed in 2013 have gone down (64%) with 35 properties closed in 2013 as compared to 97 properties closed in 2012.? Overall, distressed property sales, (REO and Short Sales) represent 19% of the sales in 2013 which is less than the 38% in 2012.

The active inventory on a year over year basis is down roughly 17% as we currently have 784 residential properties listed for sale as compared to 951 a year ago at this time.? However, this past week we had a 2% increase in inventory bringing our total to 784 residential properties on the market; 589 single family homes and 195 condominiums listed for sale.

SUMMER IS AROUND THE CORNERR?IT?S NOT TOO LATE!? While inventory levels are lower than normal, there are still many quality properties to choose from throughout the north Lake Tahoe and Truckee area.? When you compound the inventory available with homes still priced at 10-year lows and some of the lowest interest rates in history, savvy real estate investors are taking advantage of this market and acquiring homes in many of the Lake Tahoe and Truckee resort communities.

Contact Realty for Truckee-Tahoe Team Today to Find Out More about the Opportunities Available in the Tahoe-Truckee Market.

Note: Data on this page is based on information from the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors, MLS.? Due to MLS reporting methods and allowable reporting policy, this data is only informational and may not be completely accurate.? Therefore, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage does not guarantee the data?s accuracy.? Data maintained by the MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.? DRE License # 1908304

Source: http://www.realtyfortruckee.com/blog/2013/06/2013-weekly-real-estate-market-report/

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Merkel launches campaign with populist but costly promises

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched her re-election campaign on Monday with promises her coalition partners dismissed as unaffordable and even one party ally said would never see the light of day.

Merkel told leaders of her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party that if she is re-elected she wants to raise child benefits, pensions for women with children and pensions for low-income workers.

At the same time as preaching austerity to other euro zone nations struggling under high debt, Merkel said she wanted to see Germany invest billions more in infrastructure projects on top of the other multi-billion euro promises.

The pledges were criticized by the opposition and German media as expensive voter giveaways. One newspaper, Bild, estimated the increase in child benefits and pensions would total 15 billion euros per year. Most proposals have little chance, Bild said.

Merkel and CSU chairman Horst Seehofer, the Bavarian state premier who is also up for re-election in September, said there would be no tax increases to pay for the promises. The German economy is in solid shape with low unemployment.

Party leaders believe tax revenues will rise to 700 billion euros in 2017 from 600 billion in 2012 so no tax increases are needed. The government expects to have a balanced budget in 2014 and could even post a surplus soon.

"That would be the wrong way to go," said Merkel, referring to tax increases. She learned her lesson after nearly squandering a sure win in 2005 by pledging to raise value added tax (VAT) to 18 percent from 16 percent before the vote.

The conservatives were at 42 percent in polls just before the 2005 election but fell to 35.2 percent, in part due to Merkel's tax increase pledge, and were forced into an unwanted grand coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

Merkel, who is well ahead of the SPD in opinion polls but may not have enough support to renew her centre-right coalition with the FDP after the September 22 election, has been pushing hard to appeal to voters on the conservative and liberal wings of her party.

On Friday, in a gesture bound to appeal to voters on the conservative side, she told Russian President Vladimir Putin on a trip to St Petersburg that Germany wanted art looted by Soviet armies after World War Two repatriated.

Merkel's pledge to raise pensions has a historic precedent. Another CDU leader, Konrad Adenauer, won West Germany's only absolute majority (50.2 percent) in the 1957 election after promising to link pension increases to wage increases.

But those promises carry no appeal for her coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP). FDP chairman Philipp Roesler warned the conservatives against being led astray by the "sweet poison of spending money" before the election.

Also opposed to the spending spree, which the CDU calls a "government program" rather than an election program, is Kurt Lauk, head of the CDU economic council. He said these were only campaign promises and should not be taken seriously.

"Campaign promises are the things that parties promise to get elected," he said. "It's never happened before that election promises were turned directly into government programs. And all the voters know that from past experience."

Merkel's challenger, Peer Steinbrueck of the SPD, called the CDU/CSU campaign program "pre-meditated fraud".

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-launches-campaign-populist-costly-promises-145212868.html

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Mumford & Sons announce rescheduled tour dates

NEW YORK (AP) ? Mumford & Sons are heading back on tour.

The Grammy-winning band announced Monday that it has rescheduled dates in Dallas; Woodlands, Texas; and New Orleans. The upcoming shows will include bassist Ted Dwane, who received treatment for a blood clot on his brain two weeks ago. The band postponed shows as a result, including a headlining gig at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

The foursome's "The Full English Tour" will begin Aug. 26 in Toronto. It wraps Sept. 20 in Bonner Springs, Kan. Other stops include Milwaukee, Atlanta and Simpsonville, S.C.

The folk-rock band's sophomore album, "Babel," won album of the year at this year's Grammy Awards.

____

Online:

http://www.mumfordandsons.com/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mumford-sons-announce-rescheduled-tour-dates-183503695.html

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Soldiers work to move stranded in India mountains

GOVINDGHAT, India (AP) ? Soldiers worked on rocky gorges and rugged riverbanks Saturday trying to evacuate tens of thousands of people still stranded by monsoon flooding and landslides that killed nearly 600 people in northern India's Himalayas.

With bad weather and heavy rainfall predicted over the next two days, there was an added urgency to reach the approximately 22,000 people still stranded in the flood-hit Uttarakhand state, federal Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.

Since helicopters could rescue only small groups of people at a time, army troops Saturday opened up another road route to the Hindu temple town of Kedarnath, worst affected by the floods that hit the mountainous region nearly a week ago.

Soldiers created rudimentary bridges by stringing rope across rocky riverbanks and gouged earth, enabling safe passage for civilians in areas where bridges and roads were swept away by the floods or blocked by debris and boulders.

Shinde said air force helicopters were dropping food and drinking water to those stranded in inaccessible areas.

Uttarakhand state spokesman Amit Chandola said late Saturday that more than 80,000 people have been rescued from the worst-hit districts by air and road since the rescue operations began.

At least 7,000 people were air-lifted by air force and privately-owned helicopters and transported to Uttarakhand's capital, Dehradun, on Saturday, he said.

Food, water and medicines were being supplied to the numerous relief camps that had been set up for the people rescued from the mountains until arrangements were made for the tourists to return home. Officials were also drawing up lists of local residents whose homes have been flattened to arrange compensation.

Officials say the death toll was expected to rise as troops reach remote hillside villages where flash floods washed away homes and boulders hurtled down on the fleeing villagers.

Around 10,000 army and paramilitary troops, members of India's disaster management agency and volunteers were involved in the rescue and relief efforts, Shinde said.

Uttarakhand state Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said Friday that 556 bodies were buried deep in slush caused by the landslides. Another 40 were found floating in the Ganges River.

Thousands of homes have been washed away or damaged in the state.

People across India are collecting clothes, blankets and tarpaulins and contributing money to help those left homeless in Uttarakhand.

Army engineers were rebuilding bridges and clearing roads to enable thousands of people to leave the region.

Uttarakhand is a popular summer vacation destination for hundreds of thousands of tourists seeking to escape the torrid heat of the plains. It is also a religious pilgrimage site with four temple towns located in the Garhwal Himalayan range.

The tourists usually head down to the plains before the monsoon breaks in July. But this year, early rains caught hundreds of thousands of tourists, pilgrims and local residents unaware.

Meteorological officials said the rains in Uttarakhand were the heaviest in nearly 80 years.

Google has launched an application, Person Finder, to help trace missing people in Uttarakhand. The version is available in both Hindi and English languages, according to a Google India blog.

Meanwhile, opposition parties and angry relatives in Uttarakhand accused the government of not doing enough to rescue people stranded in the temple towns.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party accused the government of callousness toward those affected by the flooding.

"It is very unfortunate that the government cannot coordinate the rescue efforts and provide timely help to the survivors of this calamity," Naqvi told repoters.

Earlier Saturday, Shinde admitted that there had been gaps in the government's rescue and relief efforts due to a lack of coordination between several disaster and welfare agencies in Uttarakhand.

Sri Devi, a tourist from neighboring Nepal, said she and her companions took shelter in a building in Govindghat, a small town on the road to the Sikh holy site of Hemkund, after their car was washed away. The 60-year-old woman was among a group of stranded tourists rescued from the town.

"It was raining boulders down the mountain and then a flood of water swept away everything. The road was washed away and we were stuck for four days without any food," Devi said.

Monsoon flooding is an annual occurrence in India, causing enormous loss of life and property, and hundreds of people were missing and feared washed away in this week's torrential monsoon downpours and flash floods in the tributaries of the Ganges River.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/soldiers-move-stranded-india-mountains-141123173.html

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